BRIDGEPORT -- West Liberty's Seger Bonifant is the Player of the Year in the Mountain East Conference for the second-straight year, while teammate David Dennis (Freshman of the Year) and Wheeling Jesuit's Dan Sancomb (Coach of the Year) also earned top individual honors in the MEC, the league announced today.
Bonifant, a senior from Berlin, Ohio, led the MEC in scoring with 24.4 points per game to help the Hilltoppers to a share of the MEC regular season title. In addition to leading the league in scoring, he was also was tops in the league in three-point field goal percentage (.505), and was second in overall field goal percentage (.582) and made three-pointers per game (3.4). Bonifant scored over 20 points in a league-best 22 games this season while averaging 5.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists for WLU.
Dennis, a freshman from Canal Winchester, Ohio, helped direct the nation's leading scoring offense this year contributing 13.8 points per game. He was second in the league in both assists (6.0) and steals (2.21), and was third in the confernece in assist/turnover ratio (2.51).
Sancomb led Wheeling Jesuit to a 27-2 overall record and a share of the MEC regular season title with a 20-2 mark in conference play. The Cardinals rattled of 22-straight wins during the season and ascended to the No. 1 ranking in the country for the first time in school history. Wheeling Jesuit has also been ranked No. 1 in the first two NCAA Atlantic Region rankings.
The league also announced the 2015-16 all-conference teams. In addition to Bonifant as a repeat first team selection, Wheeling Jesuit's Eric Siefert and West Virginia Wesleyan's Tanner McGrew also were picked to the first team for a second-straight year. Notre Dame's duo of Tyree Gaiter and Will Vorhees also earned first team honors, as did Fairmont State's Matt Bingaya, Wheeling Jesuit's Haywood Highsmith and Concord's Rob Reed.
West Liberty had two players earn second team honors in Devin Hoehn and Zac Grossenbacher, as did Fairmont State with Jamel Morris and Thomas Wimbush. Matt Day (UVa-Wise), Justin Fritts (WJU), Aleksander Kesic (UC) and Ryan McTavish (SU) also earned second team recognition.
The All-MEC teams are selected by a vote of the league's coaches.
| 2016 All-MEC First Team |
| Name |
School |
Cl. |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Hometown |
| Matt Bingaya |
Fairmont State |
Jr. |
F |
6-4 |
Delaware, Ohio |
| Seger Bonifant |
West Liberty |
Sr. |
F |
6-7 |
Berlin, Ohio |
| Tyree Gaiter |
Notre Dame |
Sr. |
G |
5-7 |
Cleveland Heights, Ohio |
| Haywood Highsmith |
Wheeling Jesuit |
So. |
F |
6-6 |
Baltimore, Md. |
| Tanner McGrew |
W.Va. Wesleyan |
Sr. |
F |
6-8 |
Buckhannon, W.Va. |
| Rob Reed |
Concord |
Sr. |
G |
6-1 |
South Bend, Ind. |
| Eric Siefert |
Wheeling Jesuit |
Sr. |
G |
6-4 |
Reynoldsburg, Ohio |
| Will Vorhees |
Notre Dame |
So. |
F |
6-8 |
Columbus Grove, Ohio |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| 2016 All-MEC Second Team |
| Name |
School |
Cl. |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Hometown |
| Matt Day |
UVa-Wise |
Sr. |
F |
6-7 |
Buckhorn, Ky. |
| Justin Fritts |
Wheeling Jesuit |
Sr. |
G |
6-1 |
Mentor, Ohio |
| Zac Grossenbacher |
West Liberty |
Sr. |
F |
6-8 |
Parkersburg, W.Va. |
| Devin Hoehn |
West Liberty |
Jr. |
G |
6-2 |
Parkersburg, W.Va. |
| Aleksander Kesic |
Charleston |
Sr. |
F |
6-8 |
Belgrade, Serbia |
| Ryan McTavish |
Shepherd |
Sr. |
F |
6-5 |
Mt. Airy, Md. |
| Jamel Morris |
Fairmont State |
Sr. |
G |
6-5 |
Gahanna, Ohio |
| Thomas Wimbush |
Fairmont State |
Jr. |
F/G |
6-7 |
Lorain, Ohio |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| 2016 All-MEC Honorable Mention |
| Name |
School |
Cl. |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Hometown |
| Terry Hopewell |
Concord |
Sr. |
F |
6-8 |
Columbus, Ohio |
| Jevonte Hughes |
Charleston |
Sr. |
F |
6-5 |
Kalamazoo, Mich. |
| Sedric Nady |
Glenville State |
Sr. |
G |
6-1 |
Virginia Beach, Va. |
| Jametrius Wade |
Concord |
Sr. |
F |
6-1 |
Detroit, Mich. |
| |
|
|
|
|
Player of the Year: Seger Bonifant (West Liberty)
Freshman of the Year: David Dennis (West Liberty)
Coach of the Year: Dan Sancomb (Wheeling Jesuit) |
